As I state in comments on my Bandcamp page, this concept album started with one song, Caravan Of Spice, which I made last year (and was featured so kindly by Chip at iosmusicandyou.com). I had done some Wiki research on the anicent spice trade in conjunction with creating that song…and well…you now how one link leads to another.

There is a lot more to the history of the ancient trade routes than many realize. Many more parts of the world were connected by various trade routes than I had imagined. The most famous of the routes is probably the Silk Road and I was surprised to learn of many others, such as the Amber Road, the Royal Road, and the Grand Trunk Road (not a band name). All of this information provided a great basis for inspiration and a place where I let my imagination run.

Near the end of 2014 I had set a goal to release this album in February and hey, I almost got It here in March. A few life setbacks caused some time delays but nothing too bad. The real delay was the dreaded “last minute changes” that I had to implement. Once I had all of the pieces finished I listened to them back to back, as a whole story. Unsatisfied, I decided to reshape the album.

I cut out some songs, and recorded some new instrument parts or changed some effects in other songs, but nothing too drastic.

At the time that I reworked the Caravan songs, I had started to explore some very cool new music apps. As it turns out; the song, Sahara, was made with one of those new apps: BeatHawk by UVI, and it was the final addition to the album (song number 3). And I have really started to like that app, a lot.

The idea of a camel caravan dramatically traversing desert terrain is a romantic one in our western brains; the reality was quite different and often extremely harsh. I’ve attempted to express all of these various ideas and emotions through the works on the album.

The sounds, all created from various iOS instrument, synth, and drum apps, are intended to evoke a feeling or provide for a mood only. I’ve not tried to be historically or culturally accurate in the use of instruments and sounds; as evidenced by my song, The Silk Road, which features a simulated ancient Chinese stringed instrument (using the iGuzhend app) and Japanese Taiko drums (via DrumJam). I just liked the combined sounds…

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What is next?

You just released an album and a music video…now what will you do?

I am not going to Disneyland…

I always seem to have a backlog of tunes in various states; from just started to complete. There are new apps and new iOS interface and storage technologies to explore. I have ideas on making more themed works…and on and on…

There is not enough enough time remaining in my life to accomplish everything that I can conceive — so setting priorities is the first order of business. I already know what is up next (most likely)…a music video of a song that I wrote last autumn. This will be a larger project; more detailed, more elaborate, and longer than any video I’ve done to date. No estimates for a completion date though.